Genoa or Rome?
Two destinations compared on nine measures of openly sourced data. Weight what matters to you and the verdict follows.
Your match
Wins on beaches & swimming and year-round weather with your weighting.
Wins on good for families and sights concentration with your weighting.
What matters to you?
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders. The match scores above update as you do.
The verdict
Choose Genoa if swimming is the point of the trip: the sea starts at the centre, 37 beaches lie within reach, and the old town keeps museums, restaurants and bars inside one walkable core.
Choose Rome if you want sights, museums and days out with children: far more notable places within walking distance, theme parks and large parks near the centre, and the coast a 24km trip when you want it.
Scoreboard
Each measure scored 0 to 100. Open a row for the figures behind the score.
Beaches & swimming. Genoa leads by 40 points.40
| Genoa | Rome | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 73 | 33 |
| Swim season months | 4 | 5 |
| Beaches 10 km | 37 | 3 |
| Coast distance | 0 km | 24 km |
| Water distance | 0 km | 24 km |
Places to eat. Rome leads by 10 points.10
| Genoa | Rome | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 50 | 60 |
| Restaurants within 2 km of centre | 691 | 2,241 |
| Effective number of cuisines within 2 km | 14 | 10 |
Museums & heritage. Rome leads by 29 points.29
| Genoa | Rome | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 55 | 84 |
| Museums within 10 km | 47 | 161 |
| Museums within 2 km of centre | 33 | 79 |
| Share of museums within 2 km % | 70 | 49 |
| Unesco sites within 50 km | 1 | 7 |
Nightlife. Rome leads by 24 points.24
| Genoa | Rome | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 50 | 74 |
| Drinking venues within 4 km | 637 | 2,022 |
| Drinking venues within 2 km of centre | 419 | 912 |
| Share of drinking venues within 2 km % | 66 | 45 |
| Nightclubs within 4 km | 17 | 85 |
Nature & day trips. Rome leads by 35 points.35
| Genoa | Rome | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 35 | 70 |
| Protected land share 50 km % | 8 | 19 |
| Landscape blanket share 50 km % | 0 | 0 |
| Land share of disc % | 61 | 78 |
| Park area within 2 km | 29 hectares | 172 hectares |
Good for families. Rome leads by 48 points.48
| Genoa | Rome | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 38 | 86 |
| Tourist attractions within 2 km | 21 | 126 |
| Park area within 2 km | 29 hectares | 172 hectares |
| Theme parks within 30 km | 0 | 4 |
Sights concentration. Rome leads by 38 points.38
| Genoa | Rome | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 61 | 99 |
| Notable places within 2 km | 130 | 1,125 |
| Min wikipedia languages | 5 | 5 |
Value for money. Genoa and Rome are level on 68.
| Genoa | Rome | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 68 | 68 |
| Price level global | 64.9 | 64.9 |
| Daily budget | €155 | €155 |
Year-round weather. Genoa leads by 2 points.2
| Genoa | Rome | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 73 | 71 |
| Monthly daytime high | 11.7 °C to 27.9 °C | 12 °C to 31.4 °C |
| Monthly rainfall | 12 mm to 122 mm | 21 mm to 114 mm |
| Dry months | 3 | 3 |
Where they differ
Genoa puts the sea at the centre, 0km from the old town, with 37 beaches nearby against Rome's 3, and it keeps its museums, bars and restaurants tightly packed into a single walkable core.
Rome holds far more within walking distance: many times as many notable places and tourist attractions, and much more park space near the centre. It has 4 theme parks within reach where Genoa has none, 19% of the surrounding land is protected against 8% around Genoa, and the sea is 24km out.
Where they are alike
Weather is where they line up closest. Both open January at 12°C, peak in August, and share a short dry spell at the height of summer, with three months at 40mm of rain or less each.
Eating out is the other near match. Rome has more restaurants near the centre, Genoa a somewhat wider range of kitchens, so either city gives you a varied evening meal without leaving the walkable core. Both sit at the same national price level.
Which traveller are you?
If swimming shapes the trip, Genoa: the water is 0km from the centre and 37 beaches sit within reach, so a morning in the old town and an afternoon in the sea need no planning.
Families are better served by Rome: many times as many attractions and far more park space near the centre, plus 4 theme parks within reach, where Genoa has none.
For museums, ruins and late nights, Rome again: far more museums, 7 UNESCO-listed places within day-trip reach against Genoa's 1, and many more clubs, though only about half of the drinking places sit near the centre.
What the numbers don't tell you
The value comparison between these two carries no information. It is a national price level, identical for both by construction, and the €155 daily budget beside it is one national estimate rather than a measurement of Genoa or Rome. Use it to size a budget, not to choose between them.
Genoa's beach advantage is about proximity and number rather than season: Rome has 5 months of sea at 21°C or more against Genoa's 4, and Genoa's driest months are also its hottest and most crowded. Rome's walkable density is measured near the centre; much of its nightlife lies beyond that.
When should you go?
The figures behind each month. Each row is shaded against that destination's own year, so the deepest cell is its best month for that measure and the palest its weakest. Shades are not comparable between the two rows.
Temperature and rainfall are thirty-year climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Genoa: 1991-2020 normals, Genova / Sestri (6.7 km from centre). Rome: 1991-2020 normals, Roma / Ciampino (15.1 km from centre).
Genoa is the pick for high summer. July and August bring highs of 27-28°C with the sea at 24-25°C, and rainfall drops to 12-20mm, the driest weeks of its year, so swimming days rarely get interrupted.
Rome suits the shoulder months better. June offers 28°C with only 33mm, and September stays warm at 27°C though noticeably wetter at 70mm. Midsummer there climbs to 31°C, hard going among the sights, and late autumn is the wettest stretch in both cities.
Getting there
| Flying from | Genoa | Rome |
|---|---|---|
| MadridMAD | 2 h 0 m €63-91 MXP · 137 km | 2 h 15 m €98-119 FCO · 23 km |
| New YorkJFK, EWR, LGA | 8 h 15 m €542-635 1 stop MXP · 137 km | 8 h 45 m €446-597 FCO · 23 km |
| IstanbulIST, SAW | 2 h 40 m €140-309 MXP · 137 km | 2 h 15 m €136-291 FCO · 23 km |
| AthensATH | 2 h 25 m €91-99 MXP · 137 km | 1 h 55 m €96-116 FCO · 23 km |
| ParisCDG, ORY, BVA | 1 h 30 m no fares GOA · 7 km | 2 h 0 m €91-122 FCO · 23 km |
| LisbonLIS | 2 h 35 m €78-142 MXP · 137 km | 2 h 50 m €91-168 FCO · 23 km |
| CataniaCTA | 1 h 45 m €80-177 1 stop GOA · 7 km | 1 h 20 m €60-112 FCO · 23 km |
| DubaiDXB, DWC | 6 h 10 m €375-563 MXP · 137 km | 5 h 45 m €270-340 FCO · 23 km |
| Sao PauloGRU, VCP, CGH, RTE | 11 h 50 m €1,114-1167 2 stops MXP · 137 km | 11 h 45 m €893-1016 1 stop FCO · 23 km |
| BeijingPEK, PKX | 10 h 10 m €710-815 1 stop MXP · 137 km | 10 h 15 m no fares FCO · 23 km |
The busiest departure cities for these two, with a place kept for each other part of the world. Busiest means arriving passengers where an official count exists, and where none does, the number of non-stop services flown: official route statistics are published by the European reporting countries and by nobody else, so a table ranked on them alone would offer a reader in New York or Tokyo ten European cities. Flying times are estimated from the distance between airports, and every row is a city flown non-stop to both. Where the typical offer connects anyway, the stops are shown. Under each figure is the airport the flight lands at and how far that is from the centre, because the nearest airport is not always the one a route is flown to. Where both columns name the same airport it is one flight, and the difference between the two is the distance printed beside it. Typical return fares for 2026-09 to 2026-10, cached market data up to 7 days old. The figure is the middle half of the offers found, so a single price means they agreed and a range means they did not; for a typical route that middle half spans about a quarter of the median, and for the least settled routes rather more than the median itself.
Before you go
| Measure | Genoa | Rome |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Italian | Italian |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | Euro (EUR) |
| Sockets | CFL230 V, 50 Hz | CFL230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer |
| Emergency number | 112 | 112 |
| Elevation | 20 m | 21 m |
| Main airport | Genoa Cristoforo Colombo Airport (GOA)7 km from centre23 non-stop destinations | Rome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO)23 km from centre230 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 13 days | 13 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Genoa | Rome |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 558,745 | 2,748,109 |
| People per km² | 2,325 | 2,135 |
| Museums within 10 km | 51 | 177 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 7 |
| Distinct cuisines in the centre | 41 | 65 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 4 months | 5 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Genoa or Rome somewhere new.